In a different and independent way from the countries of the Ancient East, a class society and state were formed in the ancient world. The slave system that developed in Ancient Greece and Ancient rome, significantly differed from ancient Eastern slavery both in a relatively higher level of development of productive forces and in more mature slave-holding production relations.

Since Ancient Greece was not a unified state, then for of this course the generally accepted periodization of its history is not entirely acceptable. In this case, we give the following periodization of the economic history of Ancient Greece:

Cretan-Mycenaean period (XIX-XII centuries BC);
Homeric period (XII-VIII centuries BC);
the era of colonization and the formation of slave states (VIII-VI centuries BC);
the heyday of ancient Greece (VI-IV centuries BC);
Hellenistic period (III-II centuries BC).

The economy of Crete was based on agriculture. In Crete, at the beginning of the III millennium BC. e. used a plow, cultivated wheat, barley, beans, lentils, peas, flax, saffron. The Cretans were already good gardeners at that time and were famous for their harvests of olives and grapes, figs and dates. In Crete, cattle breeding was also developed (cattle and small ruminants, pigs, poultry). The main occupation of most of the Cretans was fishing.

Crete was famous for its artisans who made products from ivory, clay, earthenware, wood and various types of weapons. Bronze was used to make household items and craft tools. Cretan artisans used gold and silver to make luxury items, cult items for kings, nobility and priesthood. The Cretans carried on a brisk trade with many countries and regions of the Mediterranean: Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Sicily, Cyprus, the Black Sea regions, the south of France and Italy.

Since the XV century. BC e. the decline of the Cretan slave society comes. Slavery in the Mycenaean era had not yet acquired great development. Slaves weren't a class yet.

The Homeric period in the history of Ancient Greece is a transitional period - the decomposition of the primitive communal system and the formation of a slave society (XII-VIII centuries BC). This period was characterized by the presence of clan communities,

within which there was wealth inequality... Under the influence of property stratification, clans began to split into large patriarchal families with hereditary private land ownership, which subsequently grew into private land ownership. Communities of the Homeric period settled in fortified cities, the economy of which was based on agriculture and cattle breeding (horse breeding, pig breeding), cattle breeding. The craft had not yet separated from agriculture, and the exchange of products was still in its infancy (the exchange of surpluses). Slavery was patriarchal. There was no contempt for labor either: even the tribal leaders grazed cattle and plowed. Slave labor was little used. On the whole, this is a period of gradual formation of economic prerequisites for the formation of classes and the state. The posts of the leader of the tribe - the Basileus (king), the elders of the clans and their associations from elective turned into hereditary, although the functions of these persons were limited only by military and judicial power.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. the first slave-owning city-states (policies) began to form. At this time, the craft was finally separated from agriculture. Mining, blacksmithing, foundry, shipbuilding, ceramic production, trade began to develop, minted coins appeared. Under the influence of the development of productive forces and trade, the ancient Greeks began the conquest and colonization of new lands, which were carried out in three main directions:

To the north-east, i.e. to the Black Sea;
to the west, to Sicily and the south of the Apennine Peninsula;
to the south, to Egypt and the coast of North Africa.

As a result, the so-called Greek world was created, in which the colonial outskirts played the role of suppliers of slaves and food for the metropolises - the ancient Greek states. Of all the Greek states, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful.

Sparta arose 200 years earlier than Athens and was a vivid example of an aristocratic slave state. The population of Sparta was divided into three main groups: Spartiats (full members of the community), periecs (personally free, but politically disenfranchised) and helots (dependent rural population, slaves of the entire Spartan community). The occupation of the Spartiats was war, and in peacetime - continuous and tireless preparation for it. Physical labor was considered humiliating. Perieks were engaged in handicrafts and trade, paying taxes to the Spartan state.

According to the level of economic development, Sparta was one of the most backward states of Ancient Greece. The main branches of the economy were primitive agriculture and cattle breeding. The labor force was slaves who cultivated grapes, olives, barley, wheat and other crops. The craft and trade were in their embryonic state. Sparta is characterized by a complete underdevelopment of exchange and monetary circulation: among the Spartans, instead of money, iron plates circulated, which were not accepted in neighboring regions.

The rise of Athens (the main city of Attica) began in the 7th century. BC e., which was facilitated by both favorable natural conditions and the significant development of trade relations, the presence of silver and building materials... Agriculture in Athens was undeveloped due to the infertility of the soil. Food was purchased in exchange for handicrafts. In the middle of the 5th century. BC e. Athens, exploiting other Greek states, reached its highest prosperity. They became the political and economic center of all of Greece, becoming a world-class commercial city. The Athenian port of Piraeus dominated the trade of the entire Mediterranean. The products of Greek policies - wine, olive oil, various handicrafts, metals - were exported through Piraeus. Goods from many countries arrived in Piraeus: iron and copper from Italy, bread from Sicily and the Black Sea region, ivory from Africa, spices and luxury goods from the countries of the East. The grain trade was under state control. Slaves were a major import. The main means of replenishing the workforce for the Greek policies at this time was the slave trade.

Along with trade, usury developed, which was occupied by the owners of the exchange shops - meals. With the variety of coins circulating in the Greek world, the exchange of money was essential for trade. The meals also carried out transfer operations and took money for safekeeping. Large usurious operations were carried out by temples.

The victory of Greece in the Greco-Persian wars (500-449 BC) contributed to the final establishment of the slave system in Athens and other Greek city-states. The capture of huge booty and a mass of prisoners strengthened the economic position of Athens. It was from this period that the widespread displacement of free labor by cheaper labor of slaves began. Ancient Greece entered the heyday of a slave society.

In the V century. BC e. the development of the Greek economy was marked by significant unevenness. Handicrafts and trade developed relatively early only in part of the Greek city-states, and in other regions (Boeotia, Thessaly, Laconic, or Sparta, Argolis) primitive agriculture and cattle breeding prevailed.

The content of agrarian relations in almost all Greek city-states is the struggle between large and small land tenure. In the IV century. BC e. a three-field system is partially introduced in agriculture, fertilizers are used. Among the implements of agricultural production, a harrow with wooden tines, a threshing board and a roller appeared. The rudiments of ancient agronomy appeared as a systemic generalization of the practical experience of ancient agriculture (Theophrastus' agronomic treatise).

In the most fertile regions of Greece, agriculture developed with a predominance of grain crops: wheat, barley, spelled. Orchards, vineyards, olive groves were planted in the marginal areas of European Greece. The homeland of the best wines in Greece were the islands of Chios, Lesvos, Rhodes and Thasos. The population of Boeotia, Eto-Lia, Arcadia and other regions were engaged in cattle breeding (they raised cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, goats, sheep, pigs).

V agriculture widely used the labor of slaves, as well as the conquered population.

The main organizational unit of handicraft production in Greece was a small slave workshop - er-gasterium, where, along with slaves, sometimes slave-owners also worked. The instrument was primitive, and there were no elements of the technical division of labor.

The mining and processing of metals played an important role in the Greek economy. Coin production, the manufacture of utensils and jewelry from non-ferrous metals were of great importance in metallurgy.

Slave labor was widely used in mining and construction. The most important branch of the Athenian craft was the production of ceramics, which were one of the export goods.

Spinning and weaving in Greece in the 5th century BC e. did not stand out as an independent craft and remained mainly branches of domestic production. However, there were special felt workshops in Athens.

The growth of the military and political power of Athens contributed to the development of shipbuilding. The construction of the navy was directed by the state.

After the Greco-Persian wars, the development of commodity production and commodity circulation accelerated. The Greek states gained freedom of trade and navigation in a large area of ​​the Mediterranean basin. Greek cities with a high level of handicraft production - Miletus, Corinth, Chalkis, as well as the island of Aegina - became the centers of maritime trade. In the middle of the 5th century. BC e. The largest trading harbor on the Aegean Sea was the Athenian port of Piraeus, whose trade was mainly of an intermediary nature: goods were resold here and sent to their destination.

The internal trade of Ancient Greece was very limited due to the mountainous nature of the terrain, the poor condition of the roads, the almost complete absence of navigable rivers, and constant wars between the Greek policies. Domestic trade was carried out mainly by small dealers and hawkers.

During the great festivities, special fairs were held at the temples. The fairs at the common Greek temple of Apollo in Delphi were very popular.

Money in the ancient Greek economy, on the one hand, was an intermediary in trade transactions, and on the other hand, it itself served as an object of trade. Money trading (usury) was widespread in Greece in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. The owners of the exchange shops (meals) were engaged in usury - the meals. The role of bankers in the financial operations of the Greek world was played by temples, where huge funds flowed in the form of gifts and donations. The temples carried out loan operations, lending not only to individuals, but also entire Greek policies.

So, the economy of ancient Greece was characterized by a relatively developed commodity production and commodity circulation. The core of the ancient Greek economy was the exploitation of slaves. However, the heyday of Ancient Greece was at the same time a period of ripening of deep and acute internal contradictions generated by the slave system. The ruined small producers, who had supplemented the lumpen proletariat, demanded food. Internal contradictions were resolved through external conquests through wars. The clash of Athens with Sparta, which led to the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), weakened Athens and the states allied with it. Macedonia took advantage of the defeat of Athens and the weakening of the Greek states.

In the IV century. BC e. the Greek states were conquered by Alexander the Great, who founded a huge empire with the capital in Babylon. Lacking a solid economic base, the empire of A. Macedonian collapsed after his death. Nevertheless, the wars of this period were of great historical importance: thanks to them, a certain synthesis, a fusion of ancient and Eastern forms of slavery and cultures took place. Alexander the Great made an attempt to introduce a unified monetary system and encouraged the restoration of irrigated agriculture in the East. Many new cities arose. Wars and the needs of improving military technology, especially shipbuilding, gave impetus to the development of various new crafts, science, and agriculture. The rudimentary forms of a three-field crop rotation system appeared, agricultural tools were improved, and agronomic knowledge began to be widely used. Water pipelines and sewerage systems were built in cities, streets were paved.

The natural nature of production, the lack of economic community and the internal contradictions of the slave system led to the collapse of the empire. In the II century. BC e. Rome made an attempt to create a world power.

Introduction

Ancient Greece and its culture hold a special place in world history. Thinkers of different eras and directions converge in a high assessment of the ancient (i.e. Greco-Roman) civilization. The French historian of the last century Ernest Renan called the civilization of ancient Greece "a Greek miracle". The highest ratings for Greek civilization do not seem exaggerated.

Greek civilization is not the only one, nor is it the most ancient. When it appeared, some civilizations of the ancient East measured their history for millennia. This applies, for example, to Egypt and Babylon.

The thought of the miracle of Greek civilization is most likely caused by its unusually rapid flowering. The society and culture of Ancient Egypt already at the beginning of the third millennium BC was at the stage of development that allows us to talk about the transition from barbarism to civilization.

In the development of the slave economic system two main macromodels can be distinguished: the eastern, based on patriarchal slavery, and the western, associated with the classical form of slavery.

Within these macromodels, one can distinguish micromodels at the level of individual countries, as well as adjacent forms of the type of Spartan slavery in Ancient Greece, which is closer to the Eastern type. This paper examines the economic development of Ancient Greece.

General characteristics of the development of the economy of antiquity

Antiquity is a special period in the history of the peoples of the Mediterranean. It begins around the 8th century. BC e with the formation of the Greek city-states of Sparta, Athens, Thebes, with the rise of Carthage, the founding of Rome, with the holding of the first Olympiads, and ends in the 5th century. n. e fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Antiquity is characterized by a combination, coexistence of various political and economic models and structures. During this time, democracy and despotism were repeatedly tested in different parts of the Mediterranean basin, the rule of the best - the aristocracy and the rich - the oligarchy, in order to combine the republican and monarchical elements of government, the principate, military and administrative - bureaucratic systems of government.

The economy still had a predominantly natural character. The bulk of the population was still employed in agriculture, and mainly in agriculture. The production of fabrics and clothes from them is the main occupation of women and girls of antiquity. However, in this era, crafts, especially pottery, blacksmithing, and construction, reached a high level of development. Road construction and shipbuilding are gaining significant proportions; are erecting multi-story houses, lay water pipes, sewerage systems.

Since not only relatively small cities, but also large regions (Greece, Italy) cannot provide themselves with everything necessary, first of all grain, as well as silk, spices, etc., trade is developing and reaching an extremely high level.

Markets are being created: grain, livestock, wine, oil, construction and finishing materials, weapons, slaves. Commodity-money relations are developing. A unified, convertible system of measures and weights is being created. Large-scale lending operations are being carried out.

The social structure of the ancient era is very complex.

At the top of the social pyramid are the aristocracy, patricians - large landowners and slave owners. Their share in the population (together with family members) ranges from 1.5 to 0.5%, gradually decreasing.

The bulk of the population is demos, plebeians are free farmers, owners of small plots of land, and sometimes slaves. This is the middle layer of antiquity - the guarantor of the strength and stability of the entire system. Its share is 50-80% of the total population, decreasing during periods of crises and increasing as a result of reforms. The decline in the share of free, full-fledged farmers to a level below 50%, and then below 33%, marks the onset of a general crisis of the ancient socio-political system. Polyak G.B. History of the World Economy: Textbook for Universities / Ed. G.B. Polyaka, A.N. Markova. - M .: UNITI, 2002.-727 p.

The main social conflict of antiquity unfolds precisely between large and small landowners, their interests in the distribution of land and other resources.

Slaves are at the lowest rung of the social ladder. At first, their share is relatively small - no more than 10% of the total population. Gradually it grows and reaches 25-30%, and in some regions (for example, in Italy) even 50%. In the late antique period, the share of slaves decreases again, since a significant part of them employed in agriculture is transferred to lease relations, and the slaves turn into dependent, incomplete farmers - colonies.

Despite the fact that the share of slaves, as a rule, was significantly less than the share of free landowners, some scholars, for example K. Marx, believed that the main contradiction of antiquity was precisely the relationship between slaves and slave owners and even called the ancient mode of production slaveholding.

Craftsmen occupy an intermediate position. Craftsmanship in ancient times was not considered particularly honorable. More often slaves or freedmen were kept in the workshop, as well as foreigners who had no rights. The share of artisans, at first it was very small (3-5%), gradually grew and reached 10-12% and even 15%.

The merchants were also in an ambivalent position. Trade was considered a shameful occupation, and it was mainly foreigners who were engaged in it. However, since this occupation is very profitable, noble people participated in trade, as well as in usury through dummies. The share of traders, at first insignificant (1.5-2% of the population), is gradually increasing and amounts to 7-9%.

In the period of late antiquity, two more large social groups were formed: lumpen - citizens living at the expense of the state and private individuals, to whom they provide political and power support, and the bureaucratic and bureaucratic apparatus of government, formed mainly of freedmen and impoverished representatives of the aristocracy, are deprived of independent sources of existence ...

In the antique period, high rates of development of production and consumption of material goods were achieved. The level of consumption even in slaves was significantly higher than a thousand years later among the peasants of the Middle Ages.

However, the average life expectancy remained low (30-35 years), since child and maternal mortality was high, the mortality of young people during the wars practically did not stop, epidemiological mortality, especially from plague and gastrointestinal, colds.

However, the total population of the Mediterranean in the ancient period increased by about three times - from 20-25 to 70-75 million people.

Many scholars believe that the sources of modern Western civilization should be sought precisely in antiquity.

Greece is usually called the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. During this period, bronze tools of labor spread both on the islands of the Aegean Sea and in the mainland, contributing to the acceleration of economic development and the creation of the first states. Throughout the 3rd millennium BC. the most developed were the Cyclades Islands, located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea. From the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. the most influential among others is the island of Crete, located at the intersection of ancient sea routes. The Cretan (or Minoan) civilization reached its heyday around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.

Development of mainland Greece in the 3rd millennium BC went not so fast, but in some coastal areas already in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. rather developed cultures emerge. At the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Greek tribes (Achaeans) moved from Northern Greece to the south, who in most areas drove out the pre-Greek population (Pelasgians) and by the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. created their own states, which flourished in the XV-XIII centuries. BC, and from the XIV century. BC. the most influential among them was the city of Mycenae in Argolis (northeast of the Peloponnese).

Around the XII century. BC. from the north of the Balkan Peninsula, a new wave of immigrants is approaching, the leading role among which was played by the Greek tribe of the Dorians. Most of the centers of the Achaean culture were destroyed.

Throughout the 3rd millennium BC. metallurgy and ceramic production are making significant progress since about the XXIII century. BC. the potter's wheel began to be used. In agriculture, the leading positions are occupied by the so-called Mediterranean triad: cereals (especially barley), grapes, olives. Most active in the 3rd and first half of the 2nd millennium BC. the Greek islands developed, on which sea crafts, trade, and crafts, including artistic ones, were of particular importance. Cycladic sailors maintained contacts with the lands located in the basins of the Aegean and Adriatic seas, reached the shores of Spain and the Danube.

The Archaic period is characterized by two main processes that had a decisive influence on the development of Greek civilization: (1) Great colonization - the development by the Greeks of the coasts of the Mediterranean, Black, Azov seas, (2) registration of the policy! as a special type of community.

From the natural type of economy to the commodity In the XI-IX centuries. BC. in the Greek economy, the natural type of economy prevailed; handicrafts were not separated from agriculture. As before, the main agricultural crops were cereals (barley, wheat), grapes, olives. As before, irrigation systems were created, soil fertilization was applied. There was some improvement in the tools of labor, a plow with a metal (especially iron) opener appeared. Livestock also played an important role in agriculture, with livestock being considered one of the main types of wealth. There was some differentiation in the craft of this period, weaving, metallurgy, and ceramics were especially developed, but production, as in agriculture, was focused only on meeting the basic needs of people. In this regard, trade developed very slowly and was mainly of an exchange nature.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC. the economic situation in ancient Greece has changed significantly. During this period, the craft separated from agriculture, which remains the leading branch of the economy. The poor development of agricultural production at the previous stage, the inability to provide food for the growing population of the policies became one of the main reasons for Greek colonization. The most important function of the colonies located in the Black Sea basin was the supply of the metropolises with "bread. In many Greek policies they refused to grow cereals, and the main attention was paid to crops, the cultivation of which was more in line with the natural conditions of Greece: grapes, olives, all kinds of vegetable and garden crops. As a result, agriculture is becoming more market-oriented, and the more widespread use of iron tools has also contributed to this.

Handicraft production is also acquiring a commodity character, and, as in agriculture, Greek colonization played an important role in this, which contributed to the expansion of the raw material base and the development of trade. Many Greek city-states are becoming large craft centers, with craftsmen quarters appearing in them. In Chalcis, Miletus, Corinth, Argos, Athens, metallurgy was especially developed, the improvement of which in the archaic era was facilitated by the discovery of the technique of iron brazing and bronze casting. Important centers of ceramic production were Corinth and Athens, here from the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC. serial production begins. The Greek city-states of Asia Minor and also Megara were famous for the manufacture of textiles.

Greek trade in the era of the Great colonization developed very actively. Constant ties were established between the metropolises, which exported mainly handicraft products, and the colonies, which supplied various types of raw materials (especially metal, timber) and agricultural products (especially grain). In addition, the colonies become intermediaries between Greece and the remote barbarian periphery. In the most developed Greek policies, sea trade becomes one of the most important sectors of the economy, from the end of the 6th century. BC. Navklers, the owners and captains of merchant ships, are beginning to play a significant role.

During the Dark Ages, the land was the property of a territorial community, the main production unit was oikos (from the Greek. House) - the economy of the patriarchal family. Each family in the community was assigned a piece of land that was inherited; however, it is possible that land redistributions were carried out from time to time. Slavery in the 11th-9th centuries BC. still had a patriarchal character, the main producer of products was a free farmer.

The archaic period introduced great changes in property relations. Polis (or antique) became the leading form of land ownership - only citizens had the right to own land on the territory of the polis; personally free people who were not citizens (megeks) did not have this right. Citizens could sell land, lease it.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC. an important change in the organization of production also takes place - slavery of the classical type begins to form. This process was associated with the development of commodity production and a significant increase in the number of foreign slaves coming from the colonies. Cheap slave labor made it possible to obtain more income and was more actively used in the main branches of production.

At the turn of the 2nd millennium BC. due to the predominance of subsistence farming and the weak development of trade, there was no money as such, their role was played mainly by cattle. In the era of the Great colonization, metal ingots, bars are increasingly used as money, and finally, at the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC. coin minting begins. By the VI century. BC. in Greece, there were two main monetary systems - the Aeginian and Evebeian. The basis of each system was talent - a weight unit, which on Euboea was 26.2 kg, and on Aegina - 37 kg. From one talent, 6 thousand drachmas were minted - silver coins. The Aeginian standard was spread over most of Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Euboean standard on the island of Euboea, in many western Greek colonies, as well as in the two largest city-states - Corinth and Athens.

In the archaic period, along with monetary circulation usury developed, and insolvent debtors, as a rule, were turned into slaves and could even be sold abroad.

The main distinguishing feature of the Greek polis was the participation of all members of the civil community in the government, and this feature largely determined the internal policy of the polis. In particular, in many Greek city-states there were laws restricting the acquisition and sale of land and aimed at protecting land ownership individual citizens. However, despite this, in most regions of Greece, the development of commodity production and a shortage of land led to the growth of large land tenure, increased social differentiation and aggravation of the conflict between the aristocracy and the demos (people). In many policies of the archaic era, socio-political conflicts often ended in the establishment of tyranny - a regime of personal power. In most cases, tyrants sought to enlist the support of the demos, took care of improving its position, promoted the development of crafts and trade, and the improvement of cities. However, tyrants constantly needed money and different ways pumped them out of the population; in the end, tyranny was overthrown in most city-states.

Ancient Greek legislators Salon and Lycurgus

An important role in the further socio-political and economic development of Greece was played by the reforms carried out in the archaic era. The most famous and interesting are the reforms in Athens and Sparta, which most clearly represented two main types of polis - trade and craft and agrarian.

One of the largest Athenian reformers - Solon - a politician and poet, considered one of the seven Greek sages. In 594 BC. Solon was endowed with extraordinary powers and began transformations aimed at restoring the unity of the civilian collective. First of all, he conducted seisakhteyu (Greek shaking off the burden): all debts made on the security of land, and the interest accumulated on them, were declared invalid. Slavery for debts was abolished, the debtor Athenians sold abroad were redeemed at the expense of the state. Seysakhteya, as well as laws prohibiting the acquisition of land in excess of a certain rate, prevented the ruin of the peasants and contributed to the development of mainly medium and small landholdings in Attica. To facilitate the trade of Athens with Asia Minor and the western Mediterranean Sea, weights and measures were unified, and the previously dominant Aeginian monetary system was replaced by a lighter Euboean one. Measures were also taken to strengthen the marketability of agriculture: the development of horticultural crops was encouraged, and the export of olive oil abroad was allowed. Much attention was also paid to the craft: in particular, it was found that if the father did not teach his son any craft, he could not apply for filial support in old age. In addition, the export of raw materials was prohibited; foreign artisans were attracted to Athens, and Athenian citizenship was granted to many metecs who were involved in the craft.

The important transformations of Solon, testifying to the achievement of a high level of commodity-money relations in Athens in the 7th-6th centuries. BC, there were the introduction of freedom of wills and the replacement of family privileges with property: depending on the land income, all citizens were divided into four categories.

In Sparta, Lycurgus was considered the legendary legislator who laid the foundations of the state structure. The land in Sparta was actually state property, the allotments of individual families were inalienable, their number changed only with the annexation of new territories, in particular, with the conquest of Messenia, a rich region in the southwest of the Peloponnese peninsula, at the turn of the VM-VI centuries. BC. the redistribution of land was carried out: approximately nine thousand allotments were allocated according to the number of citizens. The land was cultivated by the helots attached to it - the population of Laconia and Messenia, conquered by the Spartans, turned into state slaves. The helots paid the owner of the allotment a fixed amount in kind annually.

Citizens of Sparta were considered equal to each other in everything - both in everyday life, and in political, and in economic sphere... Lycurgus is credited with establishing a ban on the use of gold and silver coins, only extremely inconvenient and cumbersome iron coins were allowed. The main occupation of the Spartans was military affairs, craft and trade were considered shameful for a citizen. These types of activities were granted to the periecs - deprived of political rights, but personally free residents of Laconia. The Spartan system practically did not change for several centuries (up to the 4th century BC) and determined the economic and cultural lag of this polis from others.

Greek economy of the 1st classical period (V-IV centuries BC)

5th century BC - the time of the highest rise of Greek civilization. During this period, classical slavery was finally formed, the polis reached its heyday. A huge role in the development of Greece was played by the victory in the Greco-Persian wars (500-449 BC), which temporarily turned Athens into the leading state of the Greek world. The last decades of the century were marked by the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) between the eternal opponents - Athens and Sparta, which accelerated the development of commodity-money relations and contributed to the onset of the crisis of the polis in the IV century. BC.

In the V century. BC. coinage covers the entire Greek world. As a result of the development retail at this time, the chasing of a bronze small bargaining chip... All independent Greek policies enjoyed the right to mint their own coins, so it is not surprising that the development of trade in the 5th century. BC. gave rise to a special profession of money changers (meals). Gradually (mainly from the end of the 5th century BC), money changers began to perform some of the functions typical of banks: storing money, transferring various amounts from one client's account to another, issuing money loans. The usual loan interest on the security of land, a city house was about 15%, on sea loans (against more unreliable collateral of ships and goods) could exceed 30%. Trapezites also performed some of the functions of notary offices - they concluded deals, drew up a bill of sale, kept documents.

In most Greek policies, there was no organized state economy that brought a constant and significant income, there was no direct taxation of citizens The absence of a stable source of replenishment of the state treasury was partly compensated by voluntary donations and liturgies - taxes from wealthy citizens for the needs of the state During wars, all citizens were charged an emergency military tax - esfora. Many policies had other sources of replenishment of the treasury. So, in Athens government revenues replenished at the expense of the Lavrion silver mines. For example, during the period of the Greco-Persian wars in 482 BC. Themisto (524-459 BC) offered to build warships using the proceeds from the mines. Later, these mines were leased to private individuals - citizens of Athens.

Bread supply was the most important issue economic policy most Greek city-states. Special officials took care of the uninterrupted supply of grain, and special norms for its transit were established. At the end of the 5th century. BC. in many policies, commissions for the purchase and distribution of grain among citizens were elected from the richest citizens. In a number of cases, similar regulation also applied to building materials, firewood, flax, oil, etc.

To maintain order in the domestic markets in many policies, special officials were appointed - agoranomas (market rangers) who collected duties, monitored the quality of products, the correctness of measures and weights, etc.

Policy crisis. Land relations

In connection with the crisis of the policy, significant changes have taken place in the sphere of slavery. Since the Peloponnesian War, the number of Greek slaves has increased, which was previously almost unthinkable. In addition, as more profitable, the practice of giving slaves a quitrent is becoming more widespread. The number of freedmen - slaves who managed to save money and redeem themselves free - is sharply increasing. In general, in the IV century. BC. classical slavery continues to develop, the number of slaves is increasing.

The crisis of the Greek polis in the 4th century. BC. was not associated with economic decline. On the contrary, the crisis phenomena, starting with changes in the land relations fundamental for the policy, are closely related to the development of commodity-money relations, the desire for enrichment, the development of interpolis economic ties. It was these processes that contributed to the weakening of the close connection between the citizen and his policy, created the preconditions for the development of contradictions between private and state interests, for the collision of various social groups within the civil society.

The loss of close polis unity became one of the important reasons for Greece's loss of independence and subordination in 338 BC. Philip of Macedon, whose son and heir, Alexander, created in the 30s-20s of the 4th century. BC. the largest world power of antiquity. From that time on, the poleis ceased to be the leading force in the Greek world, and were replaced by the Hellenistic monarchies.

The state of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) after his death fell apart into a number of states: the Greco-Macedonian kingdom; Egypt ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty; the Seleucid state, the central core of which was Syria and Mesopotamia; Pergamon and Pontic kingdoms in Asia Minor, etc. In these Hellenistic states a synthesis of Greek (Hellenic) and Eastern elements took place; this applied to the economic, socio-political, and cultural spheres.

The development of the economy during the Hellenistic era was favorably influenced by the transformation of the eastern Mediterranean into the inland sea of ​​the Greek world. In addition, in most of the Hellenistic states was preserved monetary system, the unification of which began under Alexander the Great: the weight standard adopted in Athens was taken as a basis, along with silver coins, gold coins began to be minted.

A very important role in economic development was played by the exchange of experience between the Greeks and the Eastern peoples, which contributed to the improvement of agricultural techniques, the cultivation of new agricultural crops, as well as the development of technology and further specialization in handicrafts. All this had a huge impact on the growth of marketability and the increase in trade turnover.

During the Hellenistic era, the center of economic life shifted from mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea to the south and east, where many new cities were founded on the coasts of the seas and on caravan routes. Large trade and handicraft centers were Alexandria in the Nile delta in Egypt, Pergamum in the north-west of Asia Minor, Lntiochia on the Orontes River in Syria, Seleucia on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia, etc. In the IV-II centuries. BC. Hellenistic policies were flourishing.

The cities were administrative units, in most cases self-government bodies were preserved in them, lands owned by the city and private individuals were attributed to them. The rest land fund was considered state: there were actually royal lands, as well as lands granted to the king's associates, temples, transferred to the holding of the soldiers.

In the Hellenistic states, classical slavery gradually spread, however, along with it, debt slavery, characteristic of the Eastern economy, existed. In agriculture, the number of slaves increased, but most of the land was cultivated by members of rural communities, who were in varying degrees of dependence on the state. In the craft, along with private workshops, there were workshops, whose workers also depended on the state.

Economy of Ancient Greece
At the turn of the III-II millennium BC. in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, the ancient Greek republic arose. Early economic growth facilitated by a convenient geographical location (trade routes), the improvement of productive forces (mastered the production of copper, and then bronze). The basis of agriculture was agriculture of a new polycultural type - the so-called "Mediterranean triad", focused on the simultaneous cultivation of three crops - cereals, mainly barley, grapes and olive. A significant shift was observed around 2200 BC. The potter's wheel became famous, the exchange developed. Affected by the proximity of ancient eastern civilizations.
The following periods of the development of Ancient Greece can be distinguished: Crete-Meken (XXX-XII centuries BC), Homeric (XI-IX centuries BC), archaic (VIII-VI centuries BC). ), classical (V-IV centuries BC) and Hellenistic (late IV-I centuries BC). The basis of economic life in the Cretan-Meken period was the palace economy. Palaces arose at the turn of the III-II millennium BC, simultaneously in different regions of Crete. The lands were palace, private and communal. The agricultural population was levied in kind and labor in favor of the palaces.
Thus, the palace performed truly universal functions. It was at the same time an administrative and religious center, the main granary, workshop and trading post. In more advanced societies, cities played this role.
The state on the island of Crete reached its highest prosperity in the 16th-15th centuries. BC. Magnificent palaces were rebuilt, roads were laid throughout the island, there was one system measures. The high productivity of agricultural labor, the presence of surplus products, led to the differentiation of society, the enrichment of the nobility. In the middle of the 15th century. BC. civilization on the island of Crete disappeared as a result of a powerful earthquake, and the leadership passed to the Achaeans. The highest flowering came in the XV-XIII centuries. BC. The leading role was played by the Mekens. Their economic development was characterized by a further rise in agriculture and handicrafts.
The land was divided into state and communal. Nobles could lease land in small plots, the state gave land on conditional holding rights. The lands were also in the hands of individual holders - teletests.
At the end of the 7th century. BC. The Cretan-Meken palace civilization left the historical arena.
The economy of the Homeric period was rather backward (thrown back to the stage of the primitive communal system). Subsistence farming prevailed, livestock was considered the measure of wealth, society did not know money.
However, important changes took place during that period. First, in the X-IX centuries. BC. iron was widely introduced into the Greek economy. Secondly, the autonomous economy of a small patriarchal family has come to the fore. Land plots are firmly entrenched in individual families.
On the face of property stratification, however, even the highest strata of the population lived in simplicity, there was no comfort even among the palace elite. Slavery was not widespread. The aristocratic farms used the labor of temporarily hired day laborers - fetas.
The polis settlement became the political and economic center. The main population of the city is not merchants and artisans, but cattle breeders and farmers.
Thus, by the end of this period, Greece was a world of small poleis-communities, associations of peasants-farmers, with the absence of external relations, the top of society was not strongly distinguished.
During the archaic period, Greece overtook everything neighboring countries in its development. Agriculture intensified: the peasants switched to the cultivation of more profitable crops - grapes and olives. The main cells of agricultural production were small peasant farms and the larger estates of the clan nobility. The land was leased, and the tenants charged ½ of the harvest as a payment.
The craft is concentrated in the cities. Main industries: metallurgy, metalworking, shipbuilding. Trade became the leading industry. Money appeared. Usury arose, and with it debt slavery.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC. the Great Greek colonization was carried out. The reasons for colonization are as follows: the lack of land, due to the increase in population and its concentration in the hands of the nobility, the need for new sources of raw materials, the search for markets for their products, the need for metal (there was very little of it in Greece itself), the desire of the Greeks to control all sea trade ways, political struggle.
There are three main directions of colonization: the first is the western (the most powerful), the second is the northeastern, the third is the southern and southeastern (the weakest, since it was met with stubborn resistance from local settlers). Colonization contributed to the development of trade and crafts.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC. the formation of ancient policies was in progress. The policies were based on the ancient form of ownership. Polis possessed the supreme ownership of land. The main economic principle policy was the idea of ​​self-sufficiency.
There are two main types of policies:
agrarian - the absolute predominance of agriculture, poor development of crafts, trade, a large proportion of dependent workers, as a rule, with an oligarchic structure;
trade and craft - with a large share of trade and crafts, commodity-money attitude, the introduction of slavery into the means of production, a democratic structure.
In Sparta, the most fertile lands were divided into 9000 allotments and given to the most fully-fledged citizens for temporary possession. They could not be given, split, bequeathed, etc., after the death of the owner, they were returned to the state. There was a desire for complete equality, contempt for luxury, a ban on crafts, trade, the use of gold and silver. The enslaved population - helots - was actively exploited.
Athens was more economically developed. Drakont's laws (621 BC) formalized the right to private property. In 594 BC. Through the reforms of Solon, all debts made on the mortgage of the land were forgiven, it was forbidden to take into slavery for debts, the export of olive oil abroad for profit was allowed, and grain was banned. The craft was encouraged. Clifen's legislation (509 BC) completed the elimination of the tribal stratum - everyone became equal, despite the various contrasts of property.
In the classical period, the main feature of economic development was the domination of polises and the spread of slavery of the classical type in trade and craft policies. Classical slavery was aimed at creating surplus value.
Sources of slavery:
sale of prisoners;
debt slavery for stateless persons;
internal reproduction of slaves;
piracy;
self-sale.
During this period, slave labor penetrated into all spheres of life and production. 30-35% of the total population were slaves. They brought in high income. Slaves were released on quitrent, rented out, but, having accumulated a certain amount of money, the slave could be released.
New phenomena in the 5th century. BC. increased marketability of agriculture, regional specialization. Olives, oil and wine have been very lucrative exports.
For convenience in conducting trade operations, merchants, especially those associated with overseas trade, created associations - fias. The purposes of creating fias were as follows: mutual revenue, insurance, etc.
IV century BC. - the time of the crisis of the classic polis. It took place in conditions of economic recovery caused by the restoration of the economy after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), in which Athens was defeated. Polis principles prevented a significant part of the wealthy inhabitants of Athens - the metecs from engaging in crafts and trade. Without citizenship rights, they had no right to receive land as collateral. At the same time, not land, but money became a prestigious form of wealth: in the 4th century. BC. the number of land purchase and sale transactions has sharply increased. The result was the concentration of land ownership in the same hands. The principle of polis life was undermined - the unity of the concept of a citizen and a land owner: one could be a citizen and not have land, and vice versa.
The ancient form of property was increasingly supplanted by private property, polis morality gave way to individualism. The number of slaves grew, and Greek slaves began to meet. Increasingly, even in agriculture, the labor of freedmen began to work. Social differentiation intensified, which undermined the foundations of the polis. Autarchy and autonomy hindered the expansion of economic ties.
However, the polis did not disappear from the historical arena, and at the Hellenistic stage of development of the ancient Greek civilization (late 4th-1st centuries BC) received new impulses for existence, being included in the framework of a large state that ensured the autonomy of the polis and its security. By the end of the 1st century. BC. Hellenistic states were subordinate to Rome

. The expulsion of the Persians from the northern coast of the Aegean Sea, the liberation of the Greek policies in the Black Sea straits and western Asia Minor led to the creation of a rather extensive economic zone, including the Aegean Basin, the Black Sea coast, southern Italy and Sicily, within which strong economic ties developed, feeding the economy of individual policies ... As a result of the victories over the Persian troops, the Greeks seized rich booty, including material values ​​and prisoners. So, for example, after the Battle of Plataea (479 BC), the Greeks, according to Herodotus, “found tents, decorated with gold and silver, gilded and silver-plated beds, golden vessels for mixing wine, bowls and other drinking vessels. On the carts, they found sacks of gold and silver cauldrons. They removed wrists, necklaces and golden swords from fallen enemies, and no one paid attention to the colorful embroidered robes of the barbarians. There was gold. "

The slave markets of Hellas were filled with numerous prisoners. In a relatively short period of time (50 years), over 150 thousand people were sold. Part of the slaves and rich booty were sent to production, went to the organization of new craft workshops, slave

The war gave rise to new needs and created additional incentives for economic development... It was necessary to build a huge fleet (several hundred ships), erect powerful defensive structures (for example, a system of Athenian fortifications, the so-called "long walls"), it was necessary to equip armies, which the Greeks had never exhibited before, with defensive and offensive weapons (shells, shields, swords, spears, etc.). Naturally, all this could not but move forward the Greek metallurgy and metalworking, construction, leatherworking and other crafts, could not but contribute to the general technical progress.

Under the influence of these factors in Greece in the middle of the 5th century. BC e. an economic system has been formed. which existed without significant changes until the end of the 4th century. BC e. It was based on the use of slave labor.

The Greek economy as a whole was not homogeneous. Among the numerous policies, two main types can be distinguished, differing in their structure. One type of polis is agrarian with an absolute predominance of agriculture, poor development of crafts and trade (the most striking example is Sparta, as well as the policies of Arcadia, Boeotia, Thessaly, etc.). And another type of polis, which can be conditionally defined as trade and craft, - in its structure, the role of craft production and trade was quite significant. In these policies, a commodity slave economy was created, which had a rather complex and dynamic structure, and the productive forces developed especially rapidly. An example of such policies were Athens, Corinth, Megara, Miletus, Rhodes, Syracuse, a number of others, usually located on the sea coast, sometimes having a small chora (agricultural area), but at the same time a large population that needed to be fed, occupied productive labor. Polis of this type set the tone for economic development, were the leading economic centers of Greece in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e.

The most striking example is Athens. The study of the economic structure of Athens allows you to get a general idea of ​​the features of the trade and craft policies of Greece in the classical period.

The definition of the leading type of Greek city-states as trade and handicraft does not mean that agriculture in them has receded into the background, has ceased to be an important industry. Not at all. Agriculture in trade and craft policies was leading along with trade and handicrafts, and was the basis of the entire economic system. That is why the characterization of the economic life of trade and craft policies must begin with a description of agriculture as the most important foundation of their economy.

Classic slavery.

The main features of classical slavery were as follows / 2 /.

Unlike the patriarchal system under classical slavery, production is aimed at creating surplus value. In the slave economy (estate or craft workshop), commodity production is organized, which shakes the foundations of natural-economic relations. Previously isolated farms establish more or less close links with the market. In the II-I centuries. BC. owners of pitchforks and workshops strive not only to obtain a larger surplus product, but also to realize it in monetary terms. The desire to obtain a larger surplus product led to the intensification of the exploitation of slaves, the complication of the internal structure of the economy, and the growth of the entrepreneurial principle in society.

The number of slaves also increased. Slaves became a large class in Roman-Italic society. Slavery spread in decisive sectors of the economy - in agriculture, mining, metallurgy, construction. However, the labor of free and semi-dependent workers continued to be used in all spheres and amounted to in the II-I centuries. BC. another important sector of the Roman economy.

The intensification of the exploitation of slave labor, dictated by the interests of commodity production, led to a deterioration in the social and legal status of slaves. The remnants of human rights, some moral - 5 restrictions on the exploitation of slaves, which existed under patriarchal slavery, in the new conditions begin to constrain the slave owner. Now he is interested in the fact that the employee was transferred to his full and uncontrolled disposal and could be subjected to any, even the most excessive, exploitation. A slave is equated to a thing, to an animal: he acted at the absolute disposal of the master, who could kill him with impunity, throw him to be devoured by predatory fish or wild animals.

The increase in the degree of exploitation, the deterioration of the situation of the slaves, and the increase in their numbers exacerbated the natural confrontation between slaves and their masters. Slaves now not only accumulated grievances and discontent in their midst, not only put up passive resistance (flight, breakage of tools), not only took part in the movement of other strata of the population. They raised grandiose, "purely" slave populous uprisings, which ascertained a serious problem in the Roman slave society. The largest of these were the Sicilian slave uprisings in the 2nd century. BC. and the uprising of Spartacus (74 - 71 BC).

Slave revolts were brutally suppressed, but they largely contributed to the undermining of the foundations of the slave system. This led, in particular, to some change legal status slaves. In ancient Rome, during the era of the empire, a number of laws were adopted that partially protected slaves from the arbitrariness of their masters (condemnation of the killing of slaves, regulation of the slave trade, etc.). The slave class struggle came to play big role In that common system social and class contradictions that set in motion the entire complex mechanism of Roman society.

Under the developed system of slavery, there was a transition from small-scale production (in agriculture and handicrafts) to a larger, centralized economy, where simple and partly complex cooperation of labor was used. If under the patriarchal system, the dominant type of economy was a small plot or workshop, where 2-3-5 people worked, then in the II-I centuries. BC. they are replaced by estates of 100-250 land yugers with a workforce of 13-20 units. The abandonment of small-scale farming, the transition to larger production meant a general intensification of the economy, led to the flourishing of Roman agriculture, handicrafts and construction.

The slave was the main producer, and the needs of the developing economy required a constant influx of new masses of slaves. The need for slaves in Roman society was constant, and it was satisfied from various sources (successful outcome of wars, debt slavery, internal - 6 reproduction of slave power, sea piracy, slave trade).

Economic development of ancient states

Ancient countries, like the ancient Eastern ones, are traditionally called slaveholding, but the types of production in these states varied significantly. In the Ancient East, there was a so-called Asian mode of production based on patriarchal slavery (from the word patriarch - head of the family) - a relatively mild type of slavery that arises in the early stages of development of ancient states. In the ancient Eastern countries, slaves were not the main producers of material goods, this role belonged mainly to various categories of communal peasants, who were in varying degrees of dependence on the state, which owned most of the land fund.
In ancient countries, at first there was also patriarchal slavery, but with the development of production, commodity-money relations, it gave way to the so-called classical slavery, which is characterized by a high degree of exploitation of slaves, the desire to get the maximum benefit from their labor. Unlike patriarchal slaves, for whom certain rights of the human person were recognized, slaves of the classical type were deprived of all rights, were considered living instruments of labor. In ancient society, it was slave labor that was the basis of production. Another characteristic feature of the ancient economy is the existence of polis ownership of land, which was a kind of combination of communal and private property.

7. Economy of Ancient Greece

7.1. Economic development of the Greek lands in the III-II millennium BC e.

III-II millennium BC e. in Greece is usually called the Bronze Age. During this period, bronze tools of labor spread both on the islands of the Aegean Sea and in the mainland, contributing to the acceleration of economic development and the creation of the first states. Throughout the III millennium BC. e. the most developed were Cyclades Islands, located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea. From the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the most influential among others is the island Crete, located at the intersection of ancient sea routes. The Cretan (or Minoan) civilization reached its heyday around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e.
Development of mainland Greece in the III millennium BC e. went not so fast, but in some coastal areas, already in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. rather developed cultures emerge. At the end of the III millennium BC. e. Greek tribes move south from Northern Greece (Achaeans), which in most areas drove out the pre-Greek population (Pelasgians) and by the middle of the II millennium BC. e. created their own states, which flourished in the 15th-13th centuries. BC e., and from the XFV century. BC e. the most influential among them was the city Mycenae in Argolis (northeast of the Peloponnese).
Around the XII century. BC e. a new wave of immigrants is approaching from the north of the Balkan Peninsula, the leading role among which was played by the Greek tribe Dorians. Most of the centers of the Achaean culture were destroyed.

Throughout the III millennium BC. e. are making significant progress metallurgy and ceramic production, where from about the XXIII century. BC e. the potter's wheel began to be used. In agriculture, the leading positions are held by the so-called Mediterranean triad: cereals (especially barley), grapes, olives.
The most active in the III and the first half of the II millennium BC. e. the Greek islands developed, on which the marine crafts, trade, crafts, including artistic ones. Cycladic sailors maintained contacts with the lands located in the basins of the Aegean and Adriatic seas, reached the shores of Spain and the Danube.
The basis of the economy of Crete and the Achaean states was Agriculture, the leading branch of which was agriculture, however, animal husbandry (especially sheep breeding) played an important role. Among the crafts, metallurgy and ceramics were of major importance. Crete and the Achaean states maintained foreign trade relations with Egypt, Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean; from these regions, raw materials were mainly brought in, some luxury goods, mainly ceramics, metal products, including weapons, were exported. In addition, the Achaeans developed trade with the peoples inhabiting the north of the Balkan Peninsula, with Italy, Sicily, as well as with the western coast of Asia Minor, where in the XIV-XIII centuries. BC e. Achaean settlements appear.
Socio-economic layer
The basis of the socio-economic structure of the economic Crete and the Achaean states were palaces- build huge complexes, including residential and religious premises, many storerooms, workshops, etc. It is difficult to judge land relations in Crete due to insufficient sources, however, most likely, the land was in communal and state ownership. In addition, it can be assumed that temple and private farms also existed on state land. In the Achaean states, the palaces disposed of all land, which was divided into two main categories: public land (partly owned by territorial communities, partly allocated for the performance of any work) and land owned by individuals. Both categories of land were actively leased out, including to slaves, but the slave could not become the owner of the land. Slaves, as in Crete, were relatively few, most belonged to the palace, and, in addition, to private individuals and temples. Free community members were mainly employed in production.
All categories of the free population (nobility, community members, etc.) were in varying degrees of dependence on the palace. The head of state was Tsar, performing political and religious functions. Real management was in the hands of the palace administration, which was involved in organizing military affairs, the tax system, overseeing the work of various groups of the population directly subordinate to the palace (artisans, shepherds, etc.), and provided them with the necessary materials and products. Territorial communities were also under the control of officials.
Almost all groups of the population and, above all, territorial communities were taxed on various types of products. Some social groups were exempted from paying taxes, mainly playing a special role in the existence of the state (blacksmiths, rowers, warriors).
Foreign economic activity was probably controlled by kings, in Crete, special attention was paid to the security of trade, the fight against pirates.

7.2. Economic development in the XI-VI centuries. BC e.

This period of time covers two stages in the history of Ancient Greece: the so-called dark ages(XI-IX centuries BC) and archaic period(VIII-VI centuries BC). The Dark Ages are often called the Homeric period, since along with archaeological data, the main source for the study of this time is the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" attributed to Homer.
Usually XI-IX centuries. BC e. is considered an intermediate stage, at which, on the one hand, in comparison with Achaean Greece, the level of development decreases, but, on the other hand, with the beginning of the production of iron tools, prerequisites are created for the further flourishing of the Greek states.

The Archaic period is characterized by two main processes that had a decisive influence on the development of Greek civilization: 1) this is the Great colonization - the development by the Greeks of the coasts of the Mediterranean, Black, Azov Seas, 2) registration policy * as a special type of community.

* Policy(city, state) - special type the state, which arose as a collective of citizens-landowners, is a city with an adjacent rural area.

Sectoral structure of the economy
In the XI-IX centuries. BC. the Greek economy was dominated by natural type farms, handicrafts were not separated from agriculture. As before, the main agricultural crops were cereals (barley, wheat), grapes, olives. As before, irrigation systems were created, soil fertilization was applied. There was some improvement in the tools of labor, in particular, there was plow with metal(especially iron) opener. Livestock also played an important role in agriculture, with livestock being considered one of the main types of wealth. In the craft of the XI-IX centuries. BC e. there was some differentiation, weaving, metallurgy, and ceramics were especially developed, but production, as in agriculture, was focused only on meeting the basic needs of people. In this regard, trade developed very slowly and was mainly of an exchange nature.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. the economic situation in ancient Greece has changed significantly. During this period, the craft separated from agriculture, which remains the leading branch of the economy. Weak development of agricultural production at the previous stage, inability to provide food for the growing population of policies became one of the main reasons Greek colonization. The most important function of the colonies located in the Black Sea basin was the supply metropolises * bread. In many Greek policies they refuse to grow cereals, and the main attention is paid to crops, the cultivation of which is more consistent with the natural conditions of Greece: grapes, olives, all kinds of vegetable and horticultural crops; as a result, agriculture is becoming more market-oriented. This is also facilitated by the wider distribution of iron tools.

* Metropolis(c. mother of cities) - the main city in relation to the colonies he created.

Craftsmanship is also gaining commodity character, moreover, as in agriculture, Greek colonization played an important role in this, which contributed to the expansion of the raw material base and the development of trade. Many Greek city-states are becoming large handicraft centers, with entire quarters of artisans appearing in them. In Chalcis, Miletus, Corinth, Argos, Athens, the metallurgy, the improvement of which in the archaic era was facilitated by the discovery of the technique of iron soldering and bronze casting. Important centers ceramic production were Corinth and Athens, here from the turn of the VII-VI centuries. BC e. serial production begins. Manufacturing textiles the Greek city-states of Asia Minor were famous, as well as Megara.
Greek trade in the era of the Great colonization is developing very actively. Constant ties are being established between the metropolises, which export mainly handicraft products, and the colonies supplying various types of raw materials (especially metal, timber) and agricultural products (especially grain). In addition, the colonies become intermediaries between Greece and the remote barbarian periphery. In the most developed Greek city-states sea ​​trade becomes one of the most important sectors of the economy. From the end of the VI century. BC e. Navklers, the owners and captains of merchant ships, are beginning to play a significant role.
Land ownership. Organization of production
During the Dark Ages, the land was the property of a territorial community, the main production unit was oikos(from c. house) - a household of a patriarchal family. Each family in the community was assigned a piece of land that was inherited; however, it is possible that land redistributions were carried out from time to time. Slavery in the 11th-9th centuries BC e. still had a patriarchal character, the main producer of products was a free farmer.
The archaic period brought about great changes in property relations. The leading form of land ownership is becoming polis(or antique) - only citizens had the right to own land on the territory of the policy; personally free people who were not citizens (meteki) did not have this right. Citizens could sell, mortgage, lease land.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. there is also an important change in the organization of production - it begins to form slavery of the classical type. This process was associated with the development of commodity production and a significant increase in the number of foreign slaves coming from the colonies. Cheap slave labor made it possible to obtain more income and was more actively used in the main industries.
Monetary relations

At the turn of the II-I millennium BC. e. due to the predominance of subsistence farming and the weak development of trade, there was no money as such, their role was played mainly by cattle. In the era of the Great colonization, metal ingots, bars are increasingly used as money, and, finally, around the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. begins coinage. By the VI century. BC e. there were two main monetary systems in Greece - aeginian and euboean *. The basis of each system was talent - weight unit, which on Euboea was 26.2 kg, and on Aegina - 37 kg. From one talent, 6 thousand were minted. drachmas- silver coins. The Aeginian standard was spread over most of Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Euboean standard on the island of Euboea, in many western Greek colonies, as well as in the two largest city-states - Corinth and Athens.

* From the names of the islands of Aegina and Euboea - important trade centers of the Aegean Sea.

Corinthian stater (c. 320 BC)

Tetradrachm from Tarsus (323 BC)

In the archaic period, along with monetary circulation, developed usury, and insolvent debtors, as a rule, were turned into slaves and could even be sold abroad.

The main distinguishing feature of the Greek polis was the participation of all members of the civil community in the government, and this feature largely determined the internal policy of the polis. In particular, in many Greek city-states there were laws that limited the acquisition and sale of land and aimed at protecting the land ownership of individual citizens. However, despite this, in most parts of Greece, the development of commodity production and land scarcity led to an increase in large land tenure, increased social differentiation and aggravation of conflict between aristocracy and demos(by the people). In many policies of the archaic era, socio-political conflicts often ended in the establishment tyranny- a regime of personal power. In most cases, tyrants sought to enlist the support of the demos, took care of improving its position, promoted the development of crafts and trade, and the improvement of cities. However, tyrants constantly needed money and siphoned it out of the population in various ways; in the end, tyranny was overthrown in most city-states.
An important role in the further socio-political and economic development of Greece was played by reforms, carried out in the era of the archaic. The most famous and interesting are the reforms in Athens and Sparta, which most clearly represented two main types of polis - trade and craft and agrarian.
One of the largest Athenian reformers - Solon - politician and poet, considered one of the seven Greek sages. In 594 BC. e. Solon was endowed with extraordinary powers and began transformations aimed at restoring the unity of the civilian collective. First of all, he spent seisakhteyu(gr. shaking off the burden): all debts made on the security of land, and the accrued interest on them, were declared null and void. Slavery for debts was abolished, the debtor Athenians sold abroad were redeemed at the expense of the state. Seysakhteya, as well as laws prohibiting the acquisition of land in excess of a certain rate, prevented the ruin of the peasants and contributed to the development of mainly medium and small landholdings in Attica. To facilitate the trade of Athens with Asia Minor and the western Mediterranean Sea, weights and measures were unified, and the previously dominant Aeginian monetary system was replaced by a lighter Euboean one. Measures were also taken to strengthen the marketability of agriculture: the development of horticultural crops was encouraged, and the export of olive oil abroad was allowed. Much attention was also paid to the craft: in particular, it was found that if the father did not teach his son any craft, he could not apply for filial support in old age. In addition, the export of raw materials was prohibited; foreign artisans were attracted to Athens, and Athenian citizenship was granted to many metecs who were involved in the craft.
The important transformations of Solon, testifying to the achievement of a high level of commodity-money relations in Athens in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e., there was the introduction of freedom of wills and the replacement of family privileges with property: depending on land income, all citizens were divided into four categories.

In Sparta, the legendary legislator who laid the foundations of the state structure was considered Lycurgus. The land in Sparta was actually state property, the allotments of individual families were inalienable, their number changed only with the annexation of new territories, in particular, with the conquest of Messenia, a rich region in the south-west of the Peloponnese peninsula, at the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. the redistribution of land was carried out: approximately nine thousand allotments were allocated according to the number of citizens. The land was cultivated attached to it helots - the population of Laconia * and Messenia, conquered by the Spartans, turned into state slaves. The helots paid the owner of the allotment a fixed amount in kind annually.

* Region in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese, center - Sparta.

Citizens of Sparta were considered equal to each other in everything - both in everyday life, and in the political and economic spheres. Lycurgus is credited with establishing a ban on the use of gold and silver coins, only extremely inconvenient and cumbersome iron coins were allowed. The main occupation of the Spartans was military affairs, craft and trade were considered shameful for a citizen. These activities were provided periekam- deprived of political rights, but personally free residents of Laconia. The Spartan system practically did not change for several centuries (up to the 4th century BC) and determined the economic and cultural lag of this polis from others.

7.3. Greek economy of the classical period (V-IV centuries BC)

V century BC e. - the time of the highest rise of Greek civilization. During this period, classical slavery was finally formed, the polis reached its heyday. A huge role in the development of Greece was played by the victory in the Greco-Persian wars (500-449 BC), which for a time turned Athens into the leading state of the Greek world. The last decades of the century were marked by the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) between the eternal opponents - Athens and Sparta, which accelerated the development of commodity-money relations and contributed to the onset of the crisis of the polis in the 4th century. BC e.
Sectoral structure of the economy
The main sector of the Greek economy was still agriculture: it employed the majority of the population, agriculture, as before, it was considered the only kind of practical activity worthy of a citizen. The processes that began in agriculture in the VIII-VI centuries. BC e., receive further development: the marketability of production increases, regional specialization deepens (for example, the Greek policies of the Northern Black Sea Region and Sicily were suppliers of grain, Athens - olive oil, the islands of Chios and Phassos - wine, etc.). However, a completely subsistence economy was not supplanted. The principle remained attractive to both individuals and policies autarchy - independence from the outside world, political and economic independence, self-sufficiency. True, unlike the archaic era in the 5th century. BC e. it is recognized that everything necessary for the policy can be provided through trade.
Due to the general economic recovery, the widespread use of slave labor, the development trade in Greek craft in the 5th century. BC e. going on expansion of production, the division of labor deepens. The industries associated with shipbuilding and navigation, mining, and the production of ceramics are developing especially actively.
Even more important than in the previous era is acquiring foreign sea trade. In this respect, of the ancient peoples, only the Phoenicians could compare with the Greeks, and at a later time only Holland of the 16th-17th centuries. can be compared with Ancient Greece of the classical period in terms of its contribution to the development of trade of its era. It is characteristic that if the Phoenicians and the Dutch were mainly engaged in intermediary trade, then the ancient Greeks, without neglecting intermediation, widely exported their agricultural and especially high-quality handicraft products.
Main articles export in other countries were olive oil, wine, metal products, ceramics. To Greece imported mainly food products (especially grain, salted fish), slaves, various types of raw materials (iron, copper, timber, resin, fur, leather, flax, ivory, etc.). In the trade of individual Greek policies with each other, handicraft products prevailed, in the production of which this or that area specialized. The main centers of Greek foreign trade were Athens, Miletus, Corinth.

Wine Jug (c. 470 BC)

Domestic trade in the Greek city-states was much less developed. Peasants from the surrounding villages mainly came to the city market and sold agricultural products in exchange for handicrafts.
Organization of production
The most important characteristic feature of the Greek production economy of the 5th century. BC e. - wide use classic slavery. Wars, piracy, the slave trade (the main sources of slavery) ensured a sharp increase in the number of slaves. In the V century. BC e. slaves are used in all spheres of production, become the main labor force and are finally deprived of all rights. It is believed that the most developed area Greece - Attica - slaves made up about one third of the population. Slave labor was especially actively used in craft workshops - ergasteria. Among the craft workshops, small ones prevailed (from two to ten slaves), but there were also fairly large ergasterias, in which the labor of about 50-100 slaves was used. The use of slave labor in mining was especially large-scale. Thus, in the development of the Lavrion silver mines (in the southern part of Attica), individual individuals used the labor of 300-1000 slaves.

Working Greek miners are lowered food on a ropeVIv. BC.

In the agriculture of Greece, slave labor played a relatively small role, which is associated with two main factors: in the cultivation and cultivation of labor-intensive crops (grapes, olives, vegetables), it was unprofitable to widely use low-productivity slave labor, and the predominance of medium and small peasant farms excluded the large-scale use of slave labor. labor. Greek peasants, as a rule, worked the land with the whole family, using one to seven slaves as auxiliary labor; hired labor was also used, especially during seasonal work.
Slaves were very actively used as domestic servants, secretaries, etc. Slaves could be leased (mainly cooks, dancers, artisans), some were let go for rent - in such cases, a slave could start his own workshop, his life did not interfere. Along with private ones, there were also government slaves, for example, in Athens, they carried out the police service, filled minor positions in the city administration: secretaries, scribes, bailiffs etc.
Monetary relations

In the V century. BC e. coinage covers the entire Greek world. As a result of the development of retail trade, minting begins at this time bronze small bargaining chip. All independent Greek policies enjoyed the right to mint their own coins, so it is not surprising that the development of trade in the 5th century. BC e. gave rise to a special profession changed (meals *). Gradually (mainly from the end of the 5th century BC) change shops begin to perform some functions characteristic of banks: storing money, transferring various amounts from one client's account to another, issuing money loans. The usual loan interest on the security of land, a city house was about 15%, the interest on sea loans (against the more unreliable security of ships and goods) could exceed 30%.

* From gr. table, change shop.

Trapezites also performed some of the functions of notary offices - they concluded deals, drew up a bill of sale, kept documents.
The role of the state in economic life
In most Greek policies, there was no organized state economy that brought a constant and significant income, there was no direct taxation of citizens. The lack of a stable source of replenishment of the state treasury was partly offset by voluntary donations and liturgies - taxes from wealthy citizens for the needs of the state. During the wars, an extraordinary military tax was levied on all citizens - esfora. Many policies had other sources of replenishment of the treasury, so in Athens, state revenues were replenished at the expense of the Lavrion silver mines. For example, during the period of the Greco-Persian wars in 482 BC. e. Themistocles proposed to build warships using the proceeds from the mines. Later, these mines were leased to private individuals - citizens of Athens.
The supply of bread was the most important issue in the economic policy of most Greek policies. Special officials took care of the uninterrupted supply of grain, and special norms for its transit were established. At the end of the 5th century. BC e. in many policies, commissions for the purchase and distribution of grain among citizens were elected from the richest citizens. In a number of cases, similar regulation also applied to building materials, firewood, flax, oil, etc.
To maintain order in the domestic markets, many policies appointed special officials - agoranomas(market rangers), who collected duties, monitored the quality of products, the correctness of measures and weights, etc.
New phenomena in the economy of Greece in the IV century BC
Currently IV century. BC e. viewed as a period crisis of the classic IV century before Greek polis. This process was a direct consequence of the development of the Greek economy. The manifestations of the uisis of the traditional polis structure were, first of all, changes in land relations. From the end of the 5th century. BC e. very widespread land purchase and sale transactions, which in the IV century. BC e. is no longer regarded as the basis of a citizen's life, but as one of the sources of income. In addition, in the IV century. BC e. the exclusive right of citizens to own land is increasingly violated - those who have distinguished themselves by any merit are given privileges, including the opportunity to acquire land and a house. In addition, from the end of the 5th century. BC e. distributed by rent of private property, and since the cultivation of foreign land was considered shameful for a citizen, the tenants are mainly meteki and freedmen. Thus, the non-civilian population penetrates into the sphere of agriculture, which was previously practically closed to it.
Along with this, many citizens begin to engage in more profitable than agriculture, activities that were previously considered unworthy of a citizen: sea trade, interest loans, mining, etc.
All this, as well as the rapid development of handicrafts and trade, which were mainly engaged in meteki, objectively leads to an increase in the role of the free non-civilian population in the economy, the socio-political life of the polis, to the gradual destruction of the traditional polis structure; become the main measure of value money, it is they who determine the position of a person in society.
In connection with the crisis of the policy, significant changes have taken place in the sphere of slavery. Since the Peloponnesian War, the number of Greek slaves has increased, which was previously almost unthinkable. In addition, as more profitable, the practice is spreading more and more leave of slaves for quitrent. The number of freedmen - slaves who managed to save money and redeem themselves free - is sharply increasing. In general, in the GU in. BC e. classical slavery continues to develop, the number of slaves is increasing.
The crisis of the Greek polis in the 4th century. BC e. was not associated with economic decline. On the contrary, the crisis phenomena, starting with changes in the land relations fundamental for the policy, are closely related to the development of commodity-money relations, the desire for enrichment, the development of interpolis economic ties. It was these processes that contributed to the weakening of the close connection between the citizen and his policy, created the preconditions for the development of contradictions between private and state interests, for the collision of various social groups within the civil society.
The loss of close polis unity became one of the important reasons for Greece's loss of independence and submission in 338 BC. e. Philip of Macedon, whose son and heir, Alexander, created in the 30s-20s of the 4th century. BC e. the largest world power of antiquity. From that time on, the policies ceased to be the leading force in the Greek world, they were replaced by Hellenistic monarchies.

7.4. Economic development during the Hellenistic era (late 4th-1st centuries BC)

The state of Alexander the Great after his death fell apart into a number of states: Greco-Macedonian kingdom; Egypt, in which the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled; the Seleucid state; the central core of which was Syria and Mesopotamia; Pergamon and Pontic kingdom in Asia Minor, etc. In these Hellenistic states there is a synthesis of Greek (Hellenic) and Eastern elements; this applies to the economic, socio-political, and cultural spheres.
The development of the economy during the Hellenistic era was favorably influenced by the transformation of the eastern Mediterranean into the inland sea of ​​the Greek world. In addition, in most of the Hellenistic states, the monetary system was preserved, unification which began during the reign of Alexander the Great: the weight standard adopted in Athens was taken as a basis, along with silver began to be minted Golden coins.
A very important role in economic development was played by the exchange of experience between the Greeks and the Eastern peoples, which contributed to the improvement of agricultural techniques, the cultivation of new agricultural crops, as well as the development of technology and further specialization in handicrafts. All this had a huge impact on the growth of marketability and the increase in trade turnover.
During this period, science and technology underwent significant development: the famous scientist Archimedes discovered the hydraulic law, the law of the lever, invented the bolt, the screw water-drawing machine and much more.

Archimedes screw, allowing to pump water from bottom to top

During the Hellenistic era, the center of economic life shifted from mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea to the south and east, where many new cities were founded on the coasts of the seas and on caravan routes. Major trade and craft centers were Alexandria in the Nile delta in Egypt, Pergamum in the northwest of Asia Minor, Antioch on the Orontes river in Syria, Selsvkia on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia, etc. In the III-II centuries. BC e. Hellenistic policies were flourishing.

Alexander lighthouse

The cities were administrative units, in most cases self-government bodies were preserved in them, lands owned by the city and private individuals were attributed to them. The rest of the land fund was considered state: there were actually tsarist lands, as well as lands granted to the tsar's associates, temples, transferred to the holding of the soldiers.
In the Hellenistic states, classical slavery gradually spread, but along with it there was a characteristic of the eastern economy debt slavery. In agriculture, the number of slaves increased, but most of the land was cultivated by members of rural communities, who were in varying degrees of dependence on the state. In the craft, along with private workshops, there were workshops, whose workers also depended on the state.

Review questions
1. Name and compare the stages of development of the ancient Greek economy.
2. Describe the features of the economy of Ancient Greece.
3. Tell us about the reforms of Lycurgus and Solon and their impact on the economic development of Sparta and Athens.
4. Explain what is the reason for the crisis of the policy in the IV century. BC e.